Thursday, 28 January, 2010

The extended take is a cinematic hire-wire act that pushes the director, actors, cinematographer, art department, sound design, and every other department to their limits. They take a very long time to set-up, and are very easy to mess up. The longer the take, the more pressure is added to get it right.

Thursday, 28 January, 2010

TakeOutWithOut aims to encourage us to reduce the amount of wrapping, packing, and accessories (napkins, plastic utensils, etc) that are offered to us with takeaway meals.

Think about the spoons, forks, straws, and napkins that you get served (why do they give you enough for a family of 20 when eating alone?). Ask yourself before accepting all these items, “Do I really need all of this?”, “Am I going to be eating this right away?” (If so, why take the bag or the napkins)… just enjoy your muffin – and be neat so the napkin isn’t needed!

Every content website I’ve ever worked on has proclaimed the death of print, but the truth is, they’ve all been secretly jealous of old media. Why? Consumers pay for print. Advertisers pay more for print. Print, for all its ink stains and dead trees still makes money. Meanwhile, every print organization I’ve ever worked with has been head-to-toe freaked about the web. The web is the hot, new thing that all the kids are excited about.

Thursday, 28 January, 2010

Even though the second full Moon in a month is not actually a Blue Moon it seems the misconception is so ingrained there is little point in putting people right any more, with Sydney Observatory advising that both January and March of this year are Blue Moon months.

In Australia, the first full Moon in 2010 is on Jan 1st at 6:13am while the Blue Moon occurs on the 30th at 5:18pm. The second blue Moon month is March with the first full Moon on the 1st at 3:38am and the second or blue Moon on the 30th at 1:25pm.

The article that told me I was wrong about what “blue moon” means (and hilariously refers to that definition as “trendy”) explains that the “two full moons in a month” definition is due to a misreading of the Maine Farmers’ Almanac: the real Blue Moon is the third full moon in a season that has four full moons.

If it’s unusual astronomical phenomena you’re after though, February will not have a Full Moon at all, while Mars will be in “opposition” – the closest the planet will be to Earth for sometime – this Saturday night.

Wednesday, 27 January, 2010

The premise

Invictus, Clint Eastwood’s adaptation of John Carlin’s book, “Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation”, is set in post apartheid South Africa shortly after Mandela (Morgan Freeman) assumes the presidency, as the country prepares to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup tournament.

The play

Mandela sees rugby as a game that could go along way to uniting the tense and fractured new nation, more so a win in the World Cup. He begins to take a personal interest in the game, the Springboks, and goes onto befriend captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon).

The wrap

Despite being heavy on emotion, tension, and drama, ingredients which work well during the World Cup final play, but not always at other times, Invictus is, by way of Mandala’s “we must become the change we want to see in the world” philosophy, an uplifting story of the early days of the new South Africa.